And just like that they were walking on the lake. saw Tyler was fishing yesterday, I think its his goal to be the first one to catch the first fish every year. My phone was crazy yesterday with call after call How much ice? What I’m hearing is 3 to 5 inches with walking traffic by the weekend. Of course just like every year the north shore still has open water? With this warm up and winds a crack could turn into a pressure ridge so common sense needs to be used at all times.
Jonny boy and I got a few more things done yesterday and are plugging along, the reservation book is slowly filling in with weekends but by no means full. A lot of our same customers have called which is always a treat. I see a lot of outfits offer houses on shore for early ice . Give us a call and we can also set you up.
Jonny boy helped me move my portable stand Monday so I plan on trying to stick a deer tonight and possible tomorrow . Then its time to hang up the bow for the season.
All the houses are coming along as I do inventory and track down all the pots, pans, silver ware, tvs, dvds, ash trays , comforters, pillow cases, dishes, etc.
We plan on firing up the generators and augers today. I’m sure Jonny boy is dying to wet a line as he loves to fish. He has that passion that he shares with Tylor. The weather would not cooperate the fall with our boat.
I may be adding a grand ice castle this year? It will sleep 4 and also be a non smoking house.
If ryan that was going to stay here in the cabin next week sees this give me a call

Well well well its that time of year again. Reports of ice as far as you can see? We have gotten roughly 3 inches of snow as the ice formed so there’s a layer of snow covering the ice sheet. I have not seen a picture from space on the internet yet but expect that will show up soon. I expect a few locals will be walking on the ice to start checking things out today? The one nice thing as the first few hundred yards the waters only a foot or two so if you do break through your feet may get wet. Once people start to venture out on the lake please use common sense. A pressure ridge can pop up any time especially when it warms up a bit or the wind start to blow, no fish is worth a rescue operation.
You can see some piled up ice way out as the winds were blowing pretty good a few days ago.

Our good friends Bob and Rick headed home after a week of deer hunting. Bobs son Luke also came up .It was nice seeing Luke. It had been quite a few years since Luke had went off to collage. The area we hunt was pretty bleak. Luke did see 2 deer, a buck and a doe, Bob saw a doe. Jonny boy our son and I also hunted with our bows. We never saw any.
I may get out a few more times when it warms up a bit.

We again had some great meals, a little cards. I did my smothered burritos , Rick did a few meals in his dutch oven.
We got the water drained in the 3 season cabin . I’ll get the other cabin cleaned up today. We will also have to drain the water in the laundry room today.
Jonny boy and I got the new gas tank in the red baron just in time before the super cold hit. I’ll fire her up today.
I will also fire up blue thunder again today. White lightings water pump is out. We thought it was the lower radiator hose so I dropped the ball on that one. I have to decide what to do about that.
Old minnesotas furnace got a good cleaning and seems to be working real nice .Knock on wood.
We will be firing up all the heaters this week and giving the houses one more cleaning before we pull them out of the woods. We did add one new house this year California, it has 3 beds,6 holes,4 burner stove. indoor biffy.
Every year the reports start trickling in about ice conditions, I personally will not be walking out on the ice any time soon. I imagine I will have blue thunder on the ice around dec 7th give or take a few days.

The reservation books are slowly filling with quite a few repeat customers. February still looks a little bleak. We do still have plenty of open dates with 20 percent off sunday through Wednesdays.
We will be able to keep 4 fish again this year with one over 17 inches. I expect good fishing again this year after going out with the dnr checking there nets this fall I was way impressed.

Not sure where summer went but she’s on the verge of heading south.
I personally have not been fishing but have heard of a few fish getting caught.
I can tell you first hand there are fish out there as Tuesday I was able to ride along with Tony the big lake specialist as they pulled there survey nets. Tony said they have been averaging 25 walleye per net. It was quite interesting pulling in the nets . Quite a verity of sizes with the biggest one around 23 inches. There also getting quite a few golden eyes which will be good for the pike. All the walleyes caught are aged and checked for male or females. There were also some pike, perch, sheephead.
I’ve wanted to get out fishing but its seems I’m at work when its not windy. We will keep a eye on the weather and try and get out. The plan is to pull the boat out mid October at this time so we should get out a couple of times you would think.
Its also time to tackle the to do list for the up and coming winter. Last weekend we were able to pull the gas tank out of the red baron as it started to leak gas at the end of last winter.
I got some new rear shocks for blue thunder. The white chevy has a antifreeze leak so there’s plenty of truck work to deal with .
We also added California to our fleet of fish house’s. All the houses need to be detailed out.
I expect good fishing again this winter. Every year is different , last years early ice was a nice bonus.
the winds are howling today so no fishing for us today.

well again its been some time since I have posted any fishing reports. There was a window when the big pike turned on. Last week I stopped at the beach where the dnr were doing some seining samples and I was amazed at all the small fish they caught. It was very cool to see. They have 5 spots they do. There were small 1 inch Quillbacks, sheephead, crappies perch. 3 inch walleyes, suckers, shiners, emerald river and spot tale. they bust of had 300 little fish . To think that was just a fraction of the lake just amazes me. I’m going to try and find a crankbait that looks like a sheephead.
My brother Warren is here for a week ,it sure is nice having such a nice brother as he always brings me gifts, He brought a small speaker that will pick up phone through blue tooth way cool. We did get out and fish sunday and managed to catch 10 fish with only 3 being keepers. Not quite sure where the big ones are hiding but we will be getting out a couple more times.
the lake is still way down . We had a little run of 4 inches of rain and since then barely a sprinkle. Still loving my job at the golf course, free golf is very good .
Hunting season is just around the corner and I expect Bob and Rick to make plans to come up in October.
Had a couple more emails for ice fishing, some people sure know how to plan.
I just missed my goal of canning 12 jars of blueberrys. I’m all ready down to 4 jars.

It’s not always about the fishing here in what most call gods country. Wayne and I were on the lake sunday morning and ran into Bill from grand raids so he ask why I have not been posting reports. Summer here in waskish is soo much different then our busy winters. As summer heats up the fishing can slow up that’s for sure. The big Pike can be fun to target. I do have my favorite summer spots, with early morning being better. Working at the golf course in Baudette Oak harbor golf course and taking care of the ball fields and park here in town keeps me pretty busy Monday through Friday so fishing is more of a weekend deal for me .
I never did well looking for morel mushrooms this spring. The wild strawberry’s on the other hand are ripe for the picking. There tough to pick compared to blueberry’s. Monday when I got home I was on a mission to go find enough for 2 strawberry sundays. It took about a hour and more then a few skitters but the hammer and I had fresh wild strawberry sundays after dinner.
The blueberry’s look small this year and were still green. I have a spot up towards baudett that I need to check out hoping The mother load is there.
We have a pretty good sized bear running around. I saw him or her yesterday. She ran across the dirt road then made a u turn and ran back across the road again. Beautiful looking fur looked to me like a 200 pounder?
Justin my tree trimmer and his friends were up last weekend. They managed 11 keepers Thursday late afternoon evening. The wind switched up Friday and Saturday and the fishing slowed down. I think they may of got another 10 over the weekend dodging the thunderstorms.
Our good friend Wayne came up to help me replace a water pump/impellor on my kicker motor. I had never done that before but with Wayne’s help and a extra trip to Bemidji we got her done.
I have 4 older gentleman coming up today so will see how they do tonight. Wayne and I did wet a line sunday morning . She was quite breezy out there. We drifted my go to spot with hardly a bite? Oh well. Mother nature always seems to have a hand in the oven . If they bit all the time there would be nothing left.
We have some family coming up over the 4rth of july so should be getting out a few extra times this next 10 days

well its been a while since I threw out a fishing report . I had a crew from mnoutdoorsman.com this past weekend. I have become friends with a few of the guys on the forum site so they had a get together up here. Most of the fish were caught in shallow water still . Me and Wayne managed 4 keepers in 4 feet of water before the rain chased us off the lake. barry and I checke d out a deeper spot by the rock pile s and managed 1 with a half dozen sheephead. Other then a family get together over the forth of july the cabins are wide open the rest of the summer.
I did have my first e mail for ice fishing. Wow nothing like planning ahead. We have some maintenance to do the boat ,then the plan is to wet a line again this weekend

Another weekend is in the books. The guys in the cabins did all right but the fishing did slow. maybe due to the water getting stirred up from the winds and the cold front that moved through.. today Monday looks like its shaping up to be a beautiful day. ken is here for a couple days and scott and his parents are coming tomorrow for a day or two. The kids will be coming for the holiday weekends so I guess I better get the boat in the water this week. I held off due to the low water but the park was able to jump through some hoops and dig out the channel so I think I’m ok. The access was crazy busy yesterday and I still have no clue where they all come from. I guess its just a combination of other resorts and people with cabins with in 100 mile radius.

Some one hit the panic mode and somehow they were able to dig out the channel going out of the tamarac starting Friday. Before opener. Quite the sight coming out in your boat and driving by two tractors and a backhoe sitting out in the lake Saturday and sunday.
The fishing should stay pretty good for a few weeks. We do have the two cabins here with plenty of open dates during the week.
Saturday day was pretty busy but buy late afternoon the landing was wide open.
I still have not found any morels mushrooms but maybe this week.

It was a little bit of a chore cutting the trail over to Buddy Hillmen’s highway . I sware the way our landing is and the shape of the shore line all the snow that blows ends up on our landing. Its just amazing how the wind just packs it in there. It did not take long to get stuck as the snow was up to the red barons door handle. Once I could not go any further I went back around to Hillmens and was able to come from the other direction and get through . But I again got stuck going through Buddies berm. Man did we pile up snow there through out the season.
Once that was open I headed out to start bringing the fleet home. Just taking my time I was able to bring north Carolina, north Dakota and florida home . Since the heat was still on I spent the extra time to go ahead and get them vacuumed and cleaned up from the past weekend.
Jonny boy stayed out there in montana. While Darrin showed up for California with his buddie Mike. Big Tony showed up with his daughter Katrina. Tony was my helper years ago.
Darrin was up to 4 or 5 last night. Jonny boy has picked up just a couple over the last couple nights, Tony and Katrina were also up to 4 or 5 with a couple bonus perch. katrina did catch a elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappie and has kept her streak alive, she is 9 as has caught at least one every time she has came fishing with her dad. I’m thinking she is Tonys lucky charm as one year they set up in the middle of no where and landed on a few.
The lake has been pretty darn quiet, all though a couple young guys we met during our crappie hunt were out there. Jonny boy had invited them over to fish by us as they had only caught one that weekend. They showed up that sunday eve and after talking to them they may of landed on the mother load that sunday night before they left.
I drove over to talk to them yesterday as they were just south of us . They had a different trailer so I did not know it was them. They have been testing some new gadgets from Garmin all winter . Turns out they have been fishing up here since they were young. Over 20 years . Two super nice guys. The equipment they are using can pick up fish in any direction from 100 feet away. It will show you if they are 10 feet away or 27 feet away. It also shows bait fish . Its all most not fair? But you still have to get them to bite? You can drill right over where you spot them. Then turn it looking down with another setting. If you had 8 holes you could see all you jigs . Turns out just as I had pulled up they had landed on the mother load not 300 feet from the houses. they figured they caught over 20 . They kept 4 . Then just like that they were gone. With there gadget they spotted them 75 feet away to the sw and moved there Yettie over there for the evening bite .
Coming off the lake last night I’m thinking one more move should be in order. There’s plenty of snow to bank Minnesota and montana. I do not have any more fishermen coming up so its time to get California home. Then I need to decide if I want to fish in old Minnesota one more night at least. I know Jonny boy will have no problem staying in montana as many nights as he can. I see it s time to check the fluids and head out to check on the guys and say good bye. Who knows maybe tonight will be the night the mother load swims underneath old minnesota

Wow just figured it out 105 day and counting that I have gone on to the lake. There may of been a day or two that I did not go on the lake but I guess I do not remember when that was. Its been another fun grind if that can be such a thing.
My blogging has not been as much as I would like. After a couple days you can not remember all the little things that happen. Such as as all the fishermen’s names that I meet along the way. How many fish were caught and released, who did what, why they drove there, what mother nature threw at us.
I would say that not as many fishermen drove into the pressure ridges or snow berms this year.
There were again more wheel houses this year then last year as they just keep pumping them things out. There were some lake politics that I do not get to talk about, about the same as every year. I hooked up with snowbear Josh as he has become a new friend, I tried to give him some pointers and helped him out where I could.
If I graded the fishing 1 to 10 I would give her a 8, we had 3 really slow weekends in our spots. It seems that they are always biting somewhere on this lake, its just getting to them places can some times be impossible.
If I graded Buddy Hillmens road/highway it gets a 10, but I biased on that as I help with that. Our crappie get together has gotten smaller which is fine as I get to spend more time with the guys and gals. My working vacation started the day after walleye closed. I’m defiantly burned out with cooking the 3 course meals in old Minnesota, all though the cooking space is about the same size as our kitchen just no running water.
I would say we have to be around 150 to 200 elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappies since walleye closed. Which is pretty good considering we can not get to where we want to be this year. I’ve really had to stay on the move to get the houses on new spots to improve the chance of catching such a elusive fish, but I always wonder if I should of stayed where I was.
When Wayne came up this weekend he drove into the maze of trails I have made in the last 3 weeks and said “your right you really do ruin areas” man did we have a laugh about that. They say Laughter makes you younger and again I may of gained a year or two.
Having Jonny boy working with me was a treat, as any time you can spend quality time with your kids is a bonus in life. Auguring holes with all most 3 feet of ice has become quite the chore , he makes it look easy, as after 3 holes I’m spent, I’m not sure how I ever have been able to knock out 40 holes on a Thursday or Friday. I guess I have to chalk it up to age.
He is also a fishing machine compared to me. He had spent every night out there since walleye closed. As our good friend Ole has said in the past. “he is a trophy hunter” you can not catch them if your not out there. Every one of these elusive crappies in my book are trophies’
Yesterday I started moving the fleet home after saying good bye to the guys. I have 3 of the 6 houses staged close to shore. Were going to keep montana and California out there for a couple more days I think, It all depends on mother nature, and how cutting the trail to Hillmens road goes today with the red baron. The houses can be out there after the 19th as long as there occupied and Jonny boy has no problem staying out there a few more nights.
Now for the fishing report, Ryan and his son Ripply arrived Thursday and spent two nights in florida. They were rewarded with 3 elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappies. I also had 5 in the cooler so we sent him home with 5 total enough to have a great meal. The hammer and I ate the other 3 out there last night.
Wayne made it up for old Minnesota, I managed to snag one Saturday eve so he also got to have fresh crappie dinner when he got home last night.
jeoff, Jeromy, Larry and Kevin were in north Dakota and montana. North dakota got 5 the first night and Saturday morning, montana got 2 I think, then Saturday night it was the opposite. They figured they caught at least 20 counting the fish caught hole hopping during the day. The crew of 4 only kept 8 or 9.
Jonny boy and I also moved California and Florida Friday , Jonny boy picked a good spot for California and has caught more then a few, yesterday Dick and his wife came for the evening and had 2 last I heard, Dick said both are going on the wall.
Marty and Tony came down from low Saturday and fished in florida they left before dark so no fish for them.
Sounds like Darrin is going to come up tomorrow for a day or 2. Jeoff said he may come back as he has a hard time putting the ice fishing gear away, kinda like me putting the golf clubs or the fish houses away. I took the hammer fishing last night for her birthday but no elusive crappie for her all though I think she may of lost one or two, as well as me.
Hillmens highway is still in good shape, with the lake completely snow covered at this time. we have not lost much if any ice other then the landing which is not that big of a deal as its so shallow .